Last issue’s On The Spot let production houses get a few things off their collective chest. Some provocative questions were sent the agency community’s way as submitted by anonymous sources, a means of asking why things is as they is in the daily machinations of the commercial production business.

Doug Lowe, executive broadcast producer for Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising, Toronto, submits this response.

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1. Why won’t agency producers tell you their budgets or their short list of directors?

If you had a couple ‘thou’ for someone to build you a deck, would you tell them you had that much if you thought they might be able to do it for $1,500? That being said, it is often to everyone’s benefit to state up front what your budget is – particularly when the dollars are tight.

What’s the deal with keeping the short list of directors a secret? Like we’re operating some covert operation or something?

2. Why don’t agency producers call you back after you submit an estimate and you find out on the street that the project has been awarded to someone else?

One such occasion could be considered an oversight (though unlikely). Twice is a trend. Why would you deal with a melonhead like this? Either confront them directly about your concern or ensure their director ‘is booked on other jobs’ the next time they come-a-callin’.

3. Why do creative people open their mail, read a magazine, or not come out of their office when the director has come to make his pitch based on their creative?

Because they’ve made their mind up already about who they want to use. Not a good sign for you.

4. Production puts so much up front. Why do agencies take 30, 60, 90 days to pay their invoices?

Most of the time it has to do with how our clients compensate us. Befriend someone in the agency’s accounting department.

5. Why don’t account people make their clients aware of production scheduling requirements?

Experienced ones probably do. It’s up to clients to listen (or care). It’s their money.

6. Why don’t agencies feel any sense of loyalty to a director who helps by doing a ‘favor’ shoot and then go elsewhere when there is a job with a budget?

See #2 above.

7. Why do agencies have competitive bids for psas?

Really? Hard to believe agencies are competitively bidding psas. More likely that they’re seeking competitive creative interpretations.

8. a) Why don’t production houses get enough time to research bids?

Why don’t agencies get enough time to bid a project?

b) What have these account people been up to?

See #5 above.

9. Why do agencies force the production house to spend thousands of dollars on a pitch when they already know which director they want?

See #2 above.

10. Why is the creative idea so often so much bigger than the client’s budget?

Let’s rephrase the question. ‘Why is the client’s budget so much smaller than the creative idea?’ Agencies have to be more responsible when selling concepts to the client. When the process breaks down, it’s likely because a producer wasn’t given the opportunity to ballpark the idea before it went to the client. Bad agency!

11. Why, at the eleventh hour, do they say, ‘Can we shoot it both ways?’

Because oft-time it’s the director who has asked to do things the other way! When it’s our client who has asked for an option, why shouldn’t they be given one? Providing they pay for it when it incurs additional expense.

Production houses have plenty of legitimate beefs. But duhh, it’s hardly a perfect world in which we co-exist. Some of the more heinous crimes above are the direct result of sloppy producers and there’s no excuse for that.

A producer’s reputation is based to a large extent on their credibility, and once their credibility is suspect, they’re cooked. But guess what? There are sloppy production companies out there too; sloppy directors, even. Ultimately, you choose to avoid these people – it’s just easier for us to be dorks because we’re the ones handing out the work.

But that doesn’t make it right.